Modern politicians, public and scientific figures consider orphanhood as a social problem that exists in many countries of the world and needs to be resolved as soon as possible. According to statistics, about half a million children without parental care live in the Russian Federation.
Law and social orphanhood
Unfortunately, the concept of orphanhood is not disclosed in the legislation. In the current regulatory acts there are lists of signs by which the child is considered an orphan. The main criteria are minority and absence of parents. Other children under the age of 18, whose parents are missing or incompetent, are deprived of their rights, the law classifies persons left without parental care. The relevant provisions are enshrined in 159-FZ. Meanwhile, the status of both children is essentially the same.
Orphanhood as a social problem
Consider the concept in a broad sense. Orphanhood is recognized by society as a negative social phenomenon. This concept denotes the lifestyle of minors, deprived of parental care, upbringing for any reason. This interpretation began to be used in the 20th century, when, as a result of revolutions, wars, and a massive decline in morality, many parents began to ignore their responsibilities towards their children. As a result, guardianship and guardianship authorities began to deal with the problems of social orphanhood not only of children who died or disappeared missing, but also of living parents.
Currently, the country has many specialized institutions for such minors - boarding schools and orphanages. Here orphans are constantly and brought up to adulthood. At the same time, there are alternative options for the upbringing and maintenance of orphans - placement in foster families.
The state today provides comprehensive assistance to children in difficult life situations. They are given various kinds of guarantees, material support, additional housing and property rights.
Normative base
The authority of guardianship and guardianship is a key state structure engaged in social work. With orphanage, as with a negative social phenomenon, it is quite difficult to fight. Unfortunately, the current legislation contains many gaps, and not all issues can be resolved.
The activities of guardianship and trusteeship bodies are based, first of all, on the Constitution. Article 38 of the Basic Law guarantees state protection of motherhood, childhood and the family. The responsibilities of adults in relation to their children are provided for in the UK. Therefore, the Family Code is also included in the regulatory framework for the activities of guardianship and guardianship authorities. In addition, the UK contains provisions governing the activities of these structures, establishing the order and main forms of placement of orphans in families, boarding schools, shelters.
Of major importance in the system of regulations are federal laws that establish guarantees for minors. It is, in particular, about 159-, 48-. One cannot but say about Presidential Decree No. 1688 of 2008, according to which the Government should improve state policy in the field of protecting orphans.
The provisions governing the placement of children in families or specialized institutions are also enshrined in the Civil Code. At the level of the subjects, various normative acts are also adopted, providing for material support for minors.
Classification
In the scientific literature, orphanhood is divided into two types: social and biological. Classification is carried out in accordance with the circumstances of the occurrence of this phenomenon. Biological and social orphanhood are two problems of a different nature. To better understand differentiation, consider them separately.
Biological orphanage
It is a social phenomenon that reflects the life of a minor who has lost parents due to their death. In the total number of children left without parental care, such orphans make up about 10-12%.
I must say that biological orphanhood in Russia has a long history. The fact is that it is caused by natural causes. The peak of biological orphanage occurs in periods of war, international and domestic, natural disasters.
Social orphanhood
In the scientific literature, this term is used to mean the life of minors left without parental care with living parents. This situation is possible if parents:
- They were deprived of their rights to a child by court.
- Abandoned the child at his birth.
- Recognized by the court as missing or incompetent.
- Without good reason, they do not fulfill their duties to the child.
Of course, this is not all the circumstances of the emergence of social orphanhood. This phenomenon is also caused by the decline in morality, the spread of drug addiction and alcoholism, the lack of proper state support, etc.
The group of social orphans also includes the so-called hidden orphans. Such children are not formally deprived of parental care, but receive it because of the indifference, disinterest of adults living with them.
Social orphanage and neglect are closely related phenomena. Lack of proper care leads to family conflicts, asocial behavior of minors. In Russia, social orphanhood is on a larger scale than biological. It is prevalent among 85% of minors. It is because of such a huge scale that the state is faced with the task of identifying and eliminating the causes of social orphanhood.
Prerequisites for the occurrence
Social orphanage of children was widespread during the collapse of the institution of a strong family. Joint farming by representatives of different generations, involving older children in caring for younger children excluded the risk of leaving minors without care in case of loss of parents. In this context, two key causes of social orphanhood are distinguished in the scientific literature: the crisis of the institution of the family as a whole and problems directly in Russian families.
The first factor is characteristic of most Western states. Its manifestations are very versatile and are expressed in:
- Increasing the average age of marriage registrants.
- Fertility reduction.
- Aging population.
- An increase in the number of so-called civil marriages.
- Increasing the number of divorces.
- Spreading same-sex relationships.
- Increasing the number of illegitimate children.
The second reason is very specific and common in Russian families. Social orphanage and homelessness of children is determined by:
- Difficult economic situation. Many families with children experience financial difficulties.
- Abuse of minors. Family cruelty is one of the main reasons for depriving parents of their rights.
- Lack of effective government programs. Social orphanage occurs in the absence of state support for families in difficult life situations.
- The spread of drug addiction, alcoholism and other bad habits.
- Unreadiness of many adults for raising children, pedagogical insolvency of workers in preschool and school institutions.
- Excessive employment of adults, interfering with normal communication and raising a child.
These and other factors in the complex cause negative deviations in the behavior of parents. They are expressed in indifference to the condition and fate of the child, addiction to bad habits, asocial actions, refusal to fulfill their parental responsibilities. It is such parents who, as a rule, lose their rights to the child, making him a social orphan.
Secondary orphanhood
This phenomenon is talked about when a minor who, for whatever reason, has lost his parents or does not receive the necessary education from them, settles in a foster family, but does not feel comfortable there either. The causes of secondary social orphanhood are:
- Inadequate psychological and pedagogical readiness of foster parents.
- Inconsistency of interests of the child and adults.
- Lack of mutual sympathy and non-verbal contact.
- The manifestation of hereditary or other diseases.
- Selfish motives for adoption (establishing custody).
All these factors arise due to insufficient attention of the state and society to the issues of prevention of social orphanage and family conflicts. To solve existing problems, it is necessary to increase the effectiveness of the activities of organizations involved in the selection, training, monitoring and support of foster families.
Prevention
Since social orphanhood is one of the most acute problems of modern Russia, the state policy is focused not only on protecting the freedoms and rights of children in difficult living conditions, and their placement in families and specialized institutions, but also on preventing cases of leaving minors without a parent care. The most effective tool in this situation is considered today the activity of guardianship and guardianship to reduce the level of social orphanhood. Measures and preventive methods are selected taking into account the level of risk and the specifics of the people to whom they are directed.
In general, the work of the guardianship and guardianship bodies involves psychological, pedagogical, legal, medical, social and other assistance to families.
Primary prevention
It is carried out in prosperous families. Prevention may include the provision of medical care aimed at giving birth to a healthy baby, medical and social support for pregnant women, the organization of sports and other activities related to supporting young families, activities aimed at creating a responsible attitude of parents to their duties, family values, etc.
Early intervention
It involves supporting families in which there is a potential social risk. We are talking about low-income families in which one or both parents are unemployed, adults practice child abuse, etc. Guardianship and guardianship agencies work closely enough with them and implement measures to prevent family dysfunction and social orphanhood.
The activities of social workers include individual counseling of parents, visiting families at home for interviews, attracting psychologists, teachers, doctors, conducting educational and educational trainings, etc.
If the above measures do not give a positive effect, and minors do not receive the necessary support, the guardianship and guardianship authorities raise the issue of removing children from dysfunctional families and transferring them to a specialized institution or foster family.
The results of the activities of social workers are recorded in the report. This information is used to determine positive dynamics and take into account the effect of applied methods in the future.
Forms of juvenile device
In accordance with the provisions of Russian law, there are 4 options for the placement of orphans: custody / guardianship, adoption, foster care, foster family. If it is not possible to use these forms, the child is placed in a specialized institution - a boarding school, an orphanage, etc.
Detection of problems associated with the placement of minors is handled by the guardianship and guardianship authorities. Their tasks also include identifying children in difficult life situations.
Adoption
This form of device for orphans is considered a priority today. The fact is that adoption allows a child to feel in a full-fledged family.
You can become an adoptive parent in court. If the application is satisfied, between citizens wishing to adopt a minor into the family, and the child himself establishes a relationship characteristic of biological children and parents.
As for the consanguineous parents, during adoption they lose all rights to the child and obligations regarding him. From the moment a court decision is passed, the adopted person has the right to inherit the adoptive parent's property, the latter, in turn, may assign the surname to the minor.
In law, this form of device is allowed only for persons under the age of 18. If the child is 10 years old, his consent is required for adoption. In addition, the consent of biological parents will be required for adoption. A potential adoptive parent must meet the requirements set forth in article 127 of the UK.
Guardianship and custody
These forms of device for orphans are described in provisions 48-FZ. Guardianship and trusteeship are established over minors and minors, deprived of parental care, for their education and maintenance, protection of their interests and rights. These forms differ only in the age of the children. Guardianship is established in relation to a child under the age of 14 years, guardianship - 14-18 liters.
Unlike adoption, the decision is made by the authority of guardianship and guardianship. An interested person should apply to this organization.
An adult, capable citizen who meets the requirements of Article 146 of the Insurance Code may become a guardian or trustee. I must say that the priority right in this belongs to the close relatives of the minor. Guardianship is often an intermediate form before adoption.
The legislation provides for 2 forms of guardianship and guardianship: paid and simple. They differ in that in the first case, the person concerned concludes a contract with the trusteeship and guardianship authority, according to which he receives a reward. The norms of domestic law establish two types of paid guardianship (guardianship): foster family and patronage. Consider their features.
Patronage
The possibility of using this form of device in the family is provided, according to the provisions of article 14 of Article 48-FZ, in each subject of the Russian Federation by regional regulatory acts. Currently, patronage exists in almost all regions.
This form of device involves the transfer of a minor into a family for education on the basis of a social contract concluded by the guardianship and trusteeship authorities with the applicant. By the way, both an external subject and a biological parent can act as it.
As with normal custody, no formal family relationship is established between the minor and his carers. Often with a patronage, a child maintains contact with biological parents. At the same time, the rights to receive benefits and payments guaranteed to a minor as an orphan are retained. The teacher, in turn, receives a fee, the amount of which is determined by regional regulatory acts.
Foster family
This form of placement of orphans is also based on an agreement with the guardianship and guardianship authority. Foster parents also receive remuneration for the upbringing and maintenance of minors. No relationship is established between adults and children. Minors are in the foster family until the expiration of the contract or until the age of majority.
The law establishes a limit on the number of adopted children. They should not be more than 8.
All orphans placed in foster families retain the rights to payments and benefits guaranteed by the state.
The law imposes the same requirements on potential adoptive parents as on persons wishing to become guardians. The body of trusteeship and guardianship is engaged in the selection and preparation. Citizens wishing to become foster parents submit an application to this structure. The guardianship authority is also the controlling organization - it carries out checks on the proper fulfillment by the applicants of their duties.
Payments to orphans
The current legislation provides for several types of benefits for minors left without parental care. :
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